| 释义 |
▪ I. tweedle, v.1|ˈtwiːd(ə)l|
[app. echoic: cf. teedle, toodle, twiddle v.2 In sense 2, app. influenced by wheedle.]
1. intr. Of a musical instrument or one who plays it: To produce a succession of shrill modulated sounds; also, to play triflingly or carelessly upon an instrument; of a bird, etc., to whistle or pipe with modulations of tone.
1684‘Philo Pater’ Observ. Reproved 2 The Replyer is only an Instrument of the Faction, the Club blows the Bagpipes, and he Tweedles. 1728Mrs. Delany in Life & Corr. (1861) I. 182 Yesterday I dined at the Percivals, and tweedled away upon a lovely harpsichord. 1795Cowper Pairing Time Anticipated 38 Dick heard, and tweedling, ogling, bridling,..Attested, glad, his approbation. 1835Beckford Recoll. vii. 107 A pair of flutes most nauseously tweedled upon by two..young monks.
2. trans. To bring into some place or condition by or as by playing on an instrument in this way; to entice by or as by music; to wheedle, cajole.
a1719Addison (J.), A fiddler brought in with him a body of lusty young fellows, whom he had tweedled into the service. 1740Somerville Hobbinol i. 149 Touch The trembling chords,..and the fond yielding Maid Is tweedled into Love. a1763Shenstone Ess. (1765) 216 Why should he be esteemed devout..when he is tweedled into zeal by the dron pipe of an organ? 1896Olive Schreiner Afr. Farm i. xii, Wheedle her, tweedle her, teedle her, but don't let her make sure of you.
▪ II. tweedle, v.2 Criminals' slang.
[prob. f. tweedle, var. twiddle v.1, in sense 2 b of the latter.]
trans. To counterfeit, swindle, practise a confidence trick on. Hence ˈtweedler, one who tweedles; ˈtweedling vbl. n.
1925E. Jervis Twenty-Five Years in Six Prisons i. 17 Some of the boys go ‘tweedling’. I am afraid that the knowing author of the ‘cracking-a-crib’ book would be flummoxed by ‘tweedling’. Ibid. 18 The chain is handed over in tissue-paper, and the ‘tweedler’ departs. 1959J. Gosling Ghost Squad ix. 114 The tweedler will flog you sawdust cigarettes or dummy diamond rings. 1975P. G. Winslow Death of Angel iv. 94 ‘Tweedling’—small con jobs, mostly against the old and weak. Ibid. ix. 195 He was always blubbing to Joss, a tweedler like that has to make himself big to a woman. 1980‘D. Kavanagh’ Duffy ii. 30 Big bad villain. Girls, smokes, bit of smack, mossing, tweedling.
▪ III. tweedle, n. Criminals' slang.|ˈtwiːd(ə)l|
[See tweedle v.2]
A counterfeit ring; hence, a swindle (involving counterfeit goods); a ‘fiddle’, ‘racket’.
1890Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang II. 383/2 Tweedle (thieves), a spurious ring, used to swindle jewellers and pawn brokers. 1938F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xxvii. 275 One of the oldest methods of crime is the Tweedle... The Tweedler spots a ring worth a lot of money in a jeweller's shop and goes..to have an exact..replica made. He goes in..and when the assistant isn't looking very carefully substitutes the fake for the real thing. 1959J. Gosling Ghost Squad ix. 122 A bloke's tried to pull a tweedle on me with a load of jargoons. 1963H. Slesar Bridge of Lions (1964) 2 ‘What's 'is tweedle?’ the youth asked suspiciously. 1982New Society 2 Dec. 382/3 Then it was back to the shop for the ‘tweedle’—for the switch.
▪ IV. tweedle
var. twiddle v.1 |